dba ratings and examples?

[shikhae]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section; I was sure but I thought I'd post it here since its fan related. I'm thinking of upgrading the 3 120mm fans in my case and I wanted to have some examples of dba ratings. So wikipedia gives a pretty good explanation of how ratings work, but I would like some real world examples. What would be considered whisper quiet? At what point can a fan be considered loud?

 

[krotchy]

no manufacturer's claim of DBA is ever more or less accurate than another's, since they all have their own methods they do not disclose, which can be easily fudged

best to look at fan reviews to find the best ones. spcr is a good place to go, and there was a great post on xtreme systems.

Some highlights were the Noctua 120mm fans and the Sharkoon Golfball, but they were expensive. People here love yate-loons and you can easily find 5 yate-loons for the price of one noctua most the time.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Check out silentpcreview. They often have audio samples of fans and coolers that they review. It would give you some form of baseline comparison.

 

[shikhae]

I was thinking of the
YATE LOON 120mm Case Fan - D12SM-12 - Medium Speed
which is rated at 70.5 cfm and 33 dba.

But my Lian Li case fans which are actually ADDA fans are rated at
72.0 cfm and 34 dba.

So apparantly there isn't much difference specs-wise. I don't know anything about ADDA fans, but I've only heard good things about Yate Loons. At less than $4 per fan I'm willing to give the Yate's a chance. Any thoughts?

Also do fan vibration dampners really cut noise or is it insignificant?

 

[Fallen Kell]

I second the "check out silientpcreview". The entire site is devoted to making the quietest computer you can. They do good reviews, and even have audio so you can hear what they heard.

 

[Woofmeister]

Originally posted by: shikhae
I was thinking of the
YATE LOON 120mm Case Fan - D12SM-12 - Medium Speed
which is rated at 70.5 cfm and 33 dba.

But my Lian Li case fans which are actually ADDA fans are rated at
72.0 cfm and 34 dba.

So apparantly there isn't much difference specs-wise. I don't know anything about ADDA fans, but I've only heard good things about Yate Loons. At less than $4 per fan I'm willing to give the Yate's a chance. Any thoughts?

Also do fan vibration dampners really cut noise or is it insignificant?

Take any manufacturer's claimed specs with a grain of salt. My stock Lian Li fans are likely ADDA as well and they were much louder (with an annoying high pitched whine) than my Scythe S-Flexs.

Just read the reviews here and at silentpcreveview in order to get a handle on which fans are quietest right now.

As to your other question, I do use rubber fan vibration dampners on some of my builds and sometimes not (depends if I remember to order them), I have to admit I don't hear much difference. In my experience, the chief fan noise culprits are the whine of the motor and air flow. Vibration shouldn't be much of a problem assuming the fan is properly secured.

 

[Billb2]

You can "hear" some fans here.
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/tecar.html